Theocratic civilization in the Bronze Age
The mysterious Sanxingdui is known as "one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of mankind in the 20th century". When the ancient Shu civilization moved from the dawn Baodun culture period to the Bronze Age Sanxingdui Culture period, the regional civilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River became unprecedentedly prosperous. The uniquely shaped bronze artifacts unearthed here showcase the unparalleled imagination of ancient Shu people over 3000 years ago, and also provide new clues for experts to decipher the mystery of Sanxingdui.
What does the large bronze statue group unearthed from Sanxingdui mean? Is the divine tree unearthed from Sanxingdui related to the legends of "Fusang", "Ruomu", and "Jianmu" in ancient Chinese history? With these doubts, Duan Yu, director and researcher of the Sanxingdui Culture and Bronze Civilization Research Center of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, professor of the Ba–Shu culture Research Center of Sichuan Normal University, and vice president of the Chinese Society of Pre Qin History, made a speech on this.
First, Duan Yu focused on the gold sticks and statues unearthed in the Sanxingdui. In his view, the golden staff and statues are the embodiment of a theocratic regime. "The Sanxingdui gold stick has the symbolic meaning of the combination of various privileges, which symbolizes the kingship (Political power), theocracy (religious power) and wealth monopoly (economic power). The three kinds of privileges are possessed at the same time, and are concentrated on one stick, which symbolizes the supreme ruling position of the king of Shu and the ancient Shu kingdom in the Xia and Shang dynasties, which is a typical theocratic regime."
Duan Yu also pointed out that a large number of various types of bronze statue figures unearthed in the Sanxingdui sacrificial pit have different clothing styles, crowns, and hairstyles, displaying a collection of different ethnic groups. The picture they display is a central and hierarchical group of figures centered around the bronze Dali, the leader of the ancient Shu group, and surrounded by the bronze human heads, the leaders of various ethnic groups in the southwest. It symbolizes the reality of the ancient Shu kingdom using religion to cover up politics, using culture to replace violence, and legalizing control, demonstrating the powerful rule of the Sanxingdui theocratic regime in cross regional political society
Beautiful and lifelike, the bronze sacred tree unearthed in the Sanxingdui has made countless netizens try to interpret the riddles of ancient Shu hidden in it. In the forum, Duan Yu quoted the records of "Fusang", "Ruomu" and "Jianmu" in ancient documents such as The Classic of Mountains and Seas and Huainanzi, and believed that the academic community could further focus on the description of "Jianmu". In Duan Yu's view, the Bronze Divine Tree is a "ladder" for the Theocracy leaders of Sanxingdui to communicate the divine meaning between heaven and man. The flying dragon on the divine tree was a tool for the ancient Shu king to ascend to the sky. Standing a bird on the human face meant that the divine man could ascend to the sky with the help of the divine bird. Among the gods of the ancient Shu people, only the emperors could ascend and descend to the sky, towering above the group of gods.
Finally, Duan Yu also focused on the discovery of silk traces and Fibroin in Sanxingdui since 2019. He believed that the silk found in Sanxingdui was a symbol of Theocracy authority. This indicates that during the Sanxingdui Culture period, not only did the silk weaving process and use in Sanxingdui become widespread, and the silk weaving industry reached a high level, but silk also became an important symbol and embodiment of political and religious authority. At the same time, it indicates that the silk weaving industry was an important component of Sanxingdui's political and economic development, with a considerable high status.
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